AW Congratulations
on the book and you’re very welcome.
Hmm…prestigious! Wow! That’s the
best thing anyone's said about the blog thus far, thank you.
So, what first got you into writing and why?

OS I started writing Vichyssoise when
I retired with my husband to France in 2005.
I remember trekking to the tiny library in our village of Varen in the
Midi-Pyrénées to search out essential source material in the original French on
the wartime Vichy leader, Philippe Pétain.
It seemed to me, from talking to the older locals, that there was much
suppressed about the whole sorry episode so I was determined to write something
about it. I do hope that both you and
your readers will be able to join me online at my Facebook launch event later
this morning. Just click on this link and say ‘Hi’: https://www.facebook.com/events/670363729772093/

AW Yes, I’ll certainly be there at
10.00 am UK time. Sorry, you were about
to say…

The prequel to Vichyssoise

OS The Holocaust period is very
poignant to me as past generations of my family are listed as victims in the
Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem. On
Facebook recently there was a comment that people should forget what happened
and move on. What I’ve tried to explain
in the Foreword and Appendix of Vichyssoise is that this mentality is simply
ill-thought-out. Century after century
man has fought others simply because they are ‘different’ from him, allying
with those with whom you identify somehow making you feel more comforted. (You only have to see this expressed today
at any football match!) It’s,
therefore, so important that everyone reads, learns from history and recognises
the insidious build-up to conflict so that nothing like the Holocaust of
innocent citizens can ever happen again.

AWYou write mainly historical novels. Is it all imagination or do you also
undertake research?

OS I
often think that the historical genre is the most difficult of all. Not only do you need imagination to build
your fictitious characters and plot, you must also ensure historical accuracy
with the real events that are happening in the background. This takes an awful lot of research,
especially in the appropriate, original language.

A crime novel

AWAnd what about other types of writing? Have you ever dabbled with short stories,
for instance, or other genres?

AWFamous authors, such as Roald Dahl and Dylan
Thomas, had a special space for writing.
Do you have a writing ‘shed’ of your own?

OS We
currently live in a large house in S.W. France, so I’m very fortunate to have a
separate office/study, well away from the salon, kitchen etc. This helps me concentrate when I’m searching
for inspiration!

AWFinally, if you had a whole afternoon to
yourself and could choose to spend it with anyone, living or dead. Who would it
be, and what would you want to discuss?

OS One of my heroes from the past is Winston Churchill. (It was interesting to hear the other day on
TV that Obama also liked him.) I would
love to discuss that famous, underground, wartime Cabinet meeting in 1940 which
he chaired as the new PM. Most of the
Cabinet were in favour of appeasing Hitler except for one, drunken, man called
Greenwood. If it hadn’t been for
Greenwood standing up and telling everyone that there was no way Britain should
sign an accord with Hitler, who knows what would have happened! I certainly would not be here writing this
if the vote had gone the other way.
That is what I would like to discuss with Churchill : ‘As PM and an honourable Cabinet Chairman,
what would you have done if there had been a majority vote to collaborate with
Adolf Hitler?’VICHYSSOISE1942Karin Schmidt, a former German citizen working for the British government, has disappeared during a spying mission in south-west France. Reporter, David Klein, is tasked with her search, which he gladly undertakes, despite the risks. In 1939, Karin had helped a Jewish family escape from Germany - and rescued him from Kletschkau prison. He owes her his life. But will he be in time to save her?Set agains the historical background of the Vichy government, the story shows an explosove Adolf Hitler and an irascilble Winston Churchill, culminating in Philippe Pétain's nai-biting trial for treason. David Klein and Karin Schmidt live through agonising times of danger.You can buy the books using the links below :LAMPLIGHT : Book 1 of the David Klein War Reporter series is available on :www.authl.it/4q0VICHYSSOISE : Book 2 of the David Klein series is available on : www.authl.it/52lOther books are available on Olga's Amazon page at : www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B013IBD4PUHer children's books are availablew on : http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B013IDLQ4OYou can catch up with Olga on her blog at : www.olgaswan.blogspot.co.uk

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